An urban vacation isn't complete without a trip to the city's highest observation deck! I've been captivated by skyscrapers ever since my family took our first vacation to Chicago when I was just shy of eight years old. Those of you who've read a certain story of mine already know that I think the perfect place for a church or temple would be the top of a skyscraper.

Here are the skyscrapers and other structures with observation decks that I have visited, including several of the tallest in the world:

• Sears Tower*, Chicago (1990, 1998)
• CN Tower, Toronto (1991)
• Eiffel Tower, Paris (1993, 2003)
• 2 World Trade Center, New York City (1997)
• Empire State Building, New York City (2002)
• John Hancock Building, Chicago (2003, 2011)
• Kyoto Tower, Kyoto (2004)
• Umeda Sky Tower, Osaka (2004)
• Tokyo Tower, Tokyo (2004)
• Landmark Tower, Yokohama (2004, 2005, 2009)
• Port of Kobe Tower, Kobe (2005, 2007)
• Nagoya Port Tower, Nagoya (2005)
• Renaissance Center, Detroit (2006)
• Gateway Arch, St. Louis (2006, 2007)
• JR Tower at Stellar Place Center, Sapporo (2008)
• Brisbane City Hall Clock Tower, Brisbane (2008)
• Q1, Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast (2008)
• Sydney Tower, Sydney (2008)
• JR Central Towers, Nagoya (2008)
• Petronas Twin Towers, Kuala Lumpur (2009)
• Shanghai World Financial Center**, Shanghai (2010)
• Toki Messe, Niigata (2010)
• Old Post Office Tower, Washington (2011)
• 30 Rockefeller Center, New York City (2011)

* I object to the renaming of icons. I shall continue to call it the Sears Tower.
** This is the current highest observation deck in the world—yep, higher even than Burj Khalifa.

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